Box Score
The Fort Hays State women's basketball team had their five-game winning streak snapped by No. 22 Emporia State by a score of 73-64 on Saturday night (Feb. 25) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Lady Tigers, who have now dropped 13 consecutive games to the Lady Hornets, finish the regular season with a record of 20-8 (12-8 MIAA) and in sole possession of fifth place in the MIAA standings.
Playing in her final home game, senior
Crista Bechard had the Lady Tigers' first seven points of the game and put Fort Hays State up 7-4 early on. The entire first half was played within 10 points, with FHSU taking their largest lead at 23-18 on a
Katelyn Edwards basket with 6:21 to play in the half. Emporia State quickly scored 10 consecutive points and took a 28-23 lead with 4:14 to play.
Kimber Weiser hit a three pointer and
Kaiameka Brown added a jumper to pull the game tied at 28-28 going to the break.
Fort Hays State took a couple of early leads in the second half, but about midway through the half the Lady Hornets began to take control. Emporia State used a 6-0 run to turn a one-point deficit into a 45-40 lead with 10:20 to play in the game that they would not relinquish. FHSU made several charges down the stretch, but could never get any closer than three points. After pulling to within three at 61-58 on a
Traci Keyser free throw with 2:30 to play, Emporia State closed the game on an 12-6 run and got the 73-64 victory. Emporia State hit 9-of-10 free throws in that stretch, but the dagger came on a three-pointer from Rachel Hanf with 1:20 to play that made the ESU lead 66-58.
Katelyn Edwards and
Kate Lehman both scored 14 points to lead Fort Hays State, while Bechard added 13. The other two FHSU seniors,
Janel Durler and
Kimber Weiser also played well, with Durler pulling down a team-high seven rebounds and Weiser scoring nine points on 2-of-4 shooting from long range. The Lady Tigers shot just 35.6% (21-of-59) from the field and they were 4-of-11 (36.4%) from long distance.
Emporia State got 25 points from Heather Robben and 15 from Jocelyn Cummings as they improved their record to 19-7 (14-6 MIAA). No other player had more than seven points for Emporia State, who hit 43.6% (24-of-55) of their shots from the field and were very efficient in nailing 7-of-9 (77.8%) three pointers. The Lady Hornets also outrebounded FHSU 40-35 and hit 18-of-21 (85.7%) of their free throws.
Fort Hays State finishes the regular season in fifth place of the conference standings with a conference record of 12-8. They will play on Thursday at the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., with a chance to play themselves into the NCAA South Central Regional tournament. The bracket for the MIAA Tournament will be released later this weekend.
